Tuesday, November 26, 2013

French artist Stef also goes by the name Hardbodies, and for good reason. His comic illustrations of muscle women for sites like Amy's Conquest have a detailed style, focusing on the bodybuilders as women first. A multi-talented artist, his gallery showcases work in various mediums and a wide variety of interests and inspirations.

I wanted to get to know Stef a little better and sat down with him to ask a few questions.

• What do preferred to be called?
Well, Stéphane is my real name, you can call me Stef.

• When and where were you born?
I’m born in Salon-de-Provence in the South of France in 1972

• Where do you currently live?
In a small village few kilometres from the city where I was born.

• What are your interests, hobbies or passions?
I always been interested by drawings and comics, of course not the comics you think about but “French comics”, even if I have read some American comics when I was young, in the late 70s. My other hobby is modeller. My apartment is full of military and sci-fi miniatures! And I play history miniatures wargames too… I’m really crazy about miniatures!

I’m interested also in history, architecture, American cars, sci-fi… I have so many things to do, 24 hours days are not enough to do all!

• Do you have a job other than producing your artwork?
I only make artworks in my spare time, it’s not my job even if some years ago I have done comics professionally. I had problems with my editor and I chose to stop and change job.

Now I’m a magazine graphic designer and also journalist in military history. I’m “specialized” in American Civil War and Russo-Japanese War.

• How long have you been an artist?
Well, I began to drawn some pro stuff in the late 90 but if you ask when I’ve started to draw, I can say that was at 4 or 5, and I didn’t stop since this time.

• What inspired you to become an artist?
I don’t really know. My dad was a bit an artist too, maybe I’ve seen him drawing. And perhaps Japanese cartoons inspired me a lot in this way. I loved TV Japanese anime like Great Mazinger, Captain Harlock or Captain Future… Muscular women came a long time after. At this time, I didn’t even know a woman can have big muscles! Even if I was greatly impressed when I read the first issue of She Hulk!

• Do you have formal art training or education? Where?
No, I’ve learnt by myself. My parents didn’t want me to do a school art lol!

• What artists have influenced you?
At first, Zebodoi, in the 90s, before web. I’ve bought some of his artwork at Athena2, a French shop in Paris. There was another guy in the late 90s, early 2000, on the web…I can’t remember his name but he was famous at this time. Oh yes! Scoundrel! He was everywhere and now totally disappeared… Technically speaking, my influences come from classic comics, mainly French, Italian and Belgium artists. I grown up with Japanese Anime but those didn’t influence me much I think.

• What type of artwork do you create?
Most of time my artworks are very comics style. I like to do all sort of things, mostly Sci-fi or fantasy things. When I do “Muscle Art”, I like to do funny, glamorous or erotic stuff, with often a fantasy touch. My characters are often sci-fi or fantasy characters, I liked the idea of hijacked Panthers such as described in John Norman’s "Gor" and to turn them into wild and very muscular jungle warriors.

I like to do “porn” things sometime, it’s quite rare but it’s funny. I prefer my women being quite realistic, I don’t like much “oversized” muscular women and I don’t draw very well this sort of thing.

• What is your preferred medium?
Pencils, markers and paper! I do colors on computers because it’s the easy way but I don’t really enjoy that. I prefer classic methods!

• Do you have a favorite subject matter?
Woman! It’s the most beautiful subject in the universe! :D I love classic pin-up girls, and I like to draw muscular girls in the same way. It’s how I like really drawing bodybuilders: showing they are women first.

• Describe your artistic style:
Detailed, too much detailed sometime. Even if I have done more than one hundred pages of comics in my life, I’m still not really satisfied with my work.

• Is there something that makes your artwork special?
Hmmm, no, technically there is nothing special. The only special thing is perhaps the way I show female bodybuilders. Most of the time, I want to show them like women, simple women but with a little particularity. Yes, of course, I do fantasy stuff, but then, the characters are not bodybuilders, they are warriors, wild Panthers or Sci-fi soldiers… It’s a bit different.

Perhaps it would be interesting to ask to people who like what I do, they would give you the right answer! :)

• Who or what are your inspirations?
My inspirations often come from my Women Physique World and Muscle Elegance magazines, my main models are Denise Masino, Lindsay Mulinazzi or Annie Rivieccio. Of course there are others but I often use pictures from these women. To be honest, my very first model was Annie, she always looked awesome.

• Can you describe your creation process and technique:
I imagine a scene and when I can really “see” it, I start to do sketches. I use a light box and I can make many sketches before I can find the right drawing. Then I do a more detailed drawing, always with a pencil and my light box. Then, I can ink the final work from this detailed drawing.

• Was there one artwork or event that was a turning point in your career? Why?
Not really an artwork, but an event, or two. When I discovered female bodybuilding in the late 80s, first, I was amazed! The second time was when I bought a Bill Dobbins book. That was in 1997 I think and I started then to draw muscular women.

• Have you received any awards, prizes or other fame for your work?
Ahaha! No! Of course not! I’m just an amateur. I receive congratulations and encouragements from people who like my art, it’s enough for me.

• Do you have any future plans or ideas you can tell us about?
About “female muscle”, I will go on working with “Amy’s Conquest”. I can’t do more. My days are not long enough to do more! :D

I’m working on a comic, something I do for my own pleasure (and maybe self published later). I want to mix my love of the 70s era and old American cars.

The story will be a sort of “Starsky and Hutch” stuff, about two cops, a man and a woman, in the Los Angeles of the 70s. it's an hard work, especially to make the atmosphere and appearance of the streets of Los Angeles at that time. And the fashion too!

• Anything else you would like to add?
Yes, thanks to all people who support me :)

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Friday, November 22, 2013

I just finished up my first week and I love it. The hours are long, but the work we're doing here is epic, change the world kinda stuff! I've rarely left lab 2 except for the occasional food break.

I did see Meg from lab 1 and we had lunch again. We talked and talked and she told me her project in Lab 1, my heart started pounding. It's called a Celldat scanner and it sends out a ranged signal to scan organic & inorganic cellular material as well as anything data encoded. It can tell you the building components of a person, an ipod, or a software program, anything. Lab 1 is the closest lab to the entrance, and I bet thats what's been modifying the files on my flash drive. I must have been scanned along with my flash drive, to a range just outside the main security check. What fascinates me is how it recognized the correlation between the digital image and the innermost fantasies inside my head, then modify them. The markings might be some sort of digital conversion code.

I mentioned to Meg that I had some files that might have been modified from the scanner. She told me she needs to see them. Not sure I want to share images of my innermost fantasies with someone I just met. My girlfriend doesn't even know that I like big muscular women.

Lisa is one of my favorite female bodybuilders and a good friend to Area Orion. In a recent article from MailOnline, she says bodybuilding saved her from anorexia and feels healthier and sexier than ever.

Once I started gaining size I loved it and was addicted. Canadian bodybuilder Michele Ward is an effortlessly elegant woman. Whether dressed to kill in a sexy cocktail frock or relaxing in jeans and jumper, she exudes femininity and class.

But stick a loaded barbell in front of her and this fabulous 55-year-old becomes an iron-pumping animal hell bent on building muscle!

Michele, who ha a 23-year-old son, only picked up her first weight in 2004 at the age of 46.
But she has been determinedly pumping iron ever since, and has built a truly breath-taking physique.

Friday, November 8, 2013

I just finished my first day in the Orion department. Vince was working so I got to gloat when I showed my clearance pass. Besides Vince, there were a couple Marine guards outside the security check and it took me almost 45 minutes to get through everything.

My orientation took most of the day and included a tour of the facility. I had lunch in the commons and met a quirky but cute girl from lab 1. The Commons is the employee gathering spot for employees. It's got a cafeteria, recreation & fitness center, lounge and even sleeping areas when working long shifts. We finished the tour of Area Orion except for a couple upper level labs that are still restricted to me then I got settled in lab 2. I can't believe all the military uniforms and important looking people walking around. Rumor is the Vice President will be visiting at the end of the month. Something big is going on and I'm glad I'm here.

I'll keep uploading the images from my flash drive. Still don't know what the mysterious coding is, but it seems to be appearing less.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Lyman Dally was a skinny and bullied kid from New Jersey that liked to draw. He later began lifting weights and eventually became a competitive bodybuilder. This opened his artistic eye to anatomical structure, detail and movement - qualities that still influence his artwork today.

Lyman is best known in the bodybuilding community for his Max Rep™ Mr. Astrotitan 2206 cartoon series which ran in FLEX and Muscular Development magazines during the 1990's. This mostly self-educated artist has taught at the prestigious Joe Kubert School of Cartoon & Graphic Art and lectured on muscular anatomy, using live female bodybuilders for examples. He has also created over 5,000 editorial illustrations, book illustrations, storyboards and created popular cartoons for MAXIM magazine.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

My internship at the company is ending soon. Based on my performance, I was offered a position in any department... I chose Orion. The HR director met with me to discuss my future roll and explained the extensive background checks and testing required for that department. There's no way I'm backing out now, I'm so close to clearance into Area Orion. Besides, my girlfriend Lily is pretty excited for the stable financial position we'll finally be in. Mountains of school loans, regular living expenses and the damn economy have put a serious strain on our relationship.